Ballroom Bliss
by Aindel S. Druida
Summary: Just because the girls want to have their stupid party shouldn't mean that Cloud has to learn to dance. At least it's Leon teaching him. CLC, twoshot.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:  This was inspired by that lovely scene towards the beginning of Final Fantasy VIII.  I'm sure anyone else who has played the game shared in my shock during that party scene.  My conversation with my roommate, who was in her room at the time, was something like this:**

**Me: I'm sorry, I'm going to a party?  What am I going to do, lean against a wall and drink?  scene begins  … Apparently so.**

**Roommate:  Well, at least that's in character.**

**M: …Oh look.  Rinoa.  Go die please.  **

**R: Why?  What's she doing?**

**M: Talking to me.  Trying to get me to talk back.  And now she's grabbing onto me.  Whoa, I'm off the wall, and - - HOLY #&! **

**R:  What?  What is it?**

**M: I'm DANCING!**

**R:  WTF?!  runs in  Oh God.**

**M: The plot bunnies are starting to run.**

**R: You're going to write a fic about this now, aren't you?**

**M: Yep.**

**So yeah, this has been in the works since I got the game, which was … January.  **

**I apologise for any typos I may have overlooked in this.  I'm typing this while testing liquid latex and makeup for a cosplay next weekend at Anime North. XD **

**Disclaimer: I own nada.**

            Yuffie came bounding in out of nowhere, starting Squall Leonhart from his contemplative state atop the Bailey.  "Heya Squall!  Whatcha doing?"

            "It's Leon, Yuffie," he replied gruffly, shaking off the arm she had slung about his shoulders.  "I was thinking."

            "Oh, you and your moody thoughts!  If I had a piece of munny for every time you had a moody thought…"  The hyperactive ninja wouldn't actually be as rich as she figured.  In truth, not all of Leon's thoughts were self-deprecating and angst-ridden; he just had that air about him.  He'd been thinking, before being so rudely interrupted, how nice it would be to have fish for dinner later this week.  He hadn't had fish in a while.

            "Was there a reason you came up here?"

            "Oh yeah!  Guess what?"  She took the grunt from the stoic brunet as a sign to continue.  "Sora's coming back!  And he's bringing his friends!  We're gonna par-tay!"

            "Oh good."

            Yuffie stuck out her tongue at Leon.  "Don't be such a sourpuss.  Besides, it's going to be tons of fun.  Sora wrote about this one world he went to where there was a party with fancy clothes and music and stuff, like the balls the King probably has to hold every once in a while, y'know, being King and all, and Tifa and Aerith and I thought it sounded so cool, so we're gonna try something like it!"

            He spared the diminutive girl bouncing around beside him a glance.  "Did you breathe at all during that last sentence?"

            "Nope," she grinned.  "But anyway, what I really came here to tell you was that Aerith wants you back at the house in an hour so she can measure you for your suit and then we can all have dance lessons!  Don't be late, or else!"  Yuffie giggled as she ran off, no doubt to share this bit of news with everyone else in Radiant Garden, whether they cared or not.

            _Great_, thought Leon.  _Now_ his thoughts were angst-ridden.

            "No, Tifa."

               "But Sora's coming!  You like Sora, remember?"  Grunt.  "And besides, Aerith, Yuffie, and I have been working really hard on this, and I know you wouldn't want to disappoint us."  There was a thinly veiled threat there that the blond man didn't miss.  He stopped his senseless stalking through the marketplace, pivoting to face the buxom brunette woman who had been dogging his heels for the last ten minutes.  Seeing the bitter resignation in the man's eyes, Tifa sighed.  "You don't have to act like it's the end of the world, Cloud.  All we want you to do is show up in the nice suit that Aerith made you, dance a bit, and attempt to be social.  That's not really too much to ask, is it?"

               Cloud looked away, spiky blond hair not quite hiding the lack of happiness in his expression.  "Fine, I'll go."

               "Thanks, Cloud," she replied, smiling.  "Now, you'd better get over to Merlin's.  Aerith's starting dance lessons in a few minutes."  The look on Cloud's face couldn't have been more horrified if she'd just told him that the three women had decided to dress him in drag.

               "Okay, everyone," Aerith started in her honey-sweet voice that oozed positivity.  "We're all going to waltz at the party, so in order to prepare I've called you all here for lessons."

               "I don't care what anybody says, I ain't doin' no pansy-dance, an' that's final!"  Leon looked over at the speaker, silently agreeing with Cid's proclamation.  None of the males really seemed to want this, apart from Merlin, but he didn't count anyway.

               "Aww, come on, Cid!  Don't you want to be dignified and refined?" replied Yuffie, ignoring the incredulous looks from everyone else in the room.  It was sincerely doubted that the toothpick-chewing blond man would ever be described as 'dignified' or 'refined.'  A snort from Cid indicated that even he shared this sentiment.

               Clearing her throat, Aerith continued with her earlier speech.  "Now, before we begin, does anyone here actually have any experience in ballroom dancing?"  Begrudgingly, Leon raised his right hand.  "Oh, wonderful.  You'll help me teach then, won't you, Leon?"

               Cloud was many things, but stupid definitely wasn't one of them.  He knew an out when he saw one.  Quickly, he pushed himself out of the chair he'd been sulking in and walked over to Leon.  Grabbing the now confused man's still-raised right arm, he began to steer both of them toward the door.  "He can teach me.  Somewhere else.  This place is going to get dangerous if you try to teach us all at once, Aerith."  With that, Cloud exited into the square, Leon following close behind.

               "Where are we going?  Not that I care."

               Cloud shushed him.  "Castle.  We should be safe there."

               "What about the heartless?"

               "I cleared it out yesterday when I was wandering.  It'll take them another couple days to respawn."

               Leon shrugged in response.  "Whatever."

               Neither man spoke again until they were well past the Bailey, and even then it was only Leon remarking that Cloud still had a firm grip on his arm.  "Oh, right," Cloud said, relinquishing the limb.  Some strange, deluded part of him was sad to have to let go of the brunet, but he usually ignored that part anyway.  It was the same part of him that, just last week, had forced him to take a long, appreciative look at Leon's backside while the man was bent over, looking for a tool.  After that, Cloud was under the distinct impression that that part of him could roll over and die.

               "Whatever."

               Cloud snorted.  "Not exactly original with your dialogue, are you?"

               Leon turned and stopped, glaring at Cloud.  "At least I can hold entire conversations without the word 'darkness' coming out of my mouth."

               The blond looked away from Leon with a pain in his chest, reminded of his past.  "Don't bring that up."

               "Why?" Leon challenged, stepping closer to Cloud, which wasn't making this confrontation any easier on the blond.  "You don't feel like making more vague allusions to your terrible, angst-ridden past?"

               "You don't know what I've been through!"

               "Of course I don't!  No one does.  You never really tell anyone anything, and yet you never stop with that 'pity poor me' vibe."  Cloud flinched, knowing what Leon said to be true.  "Don't you just want someone to listen to you once in a while?"

               The blond's head snapped back up, blinking rapidly.  "… I never would have expected that out of your mouth."

               Leon shrugged.  "It's not, originally.  An old friend said that to me once.  I told her I didn't care, and ignored her."

               Now Cloud was curious.  Leon talked even less about his past than Cloud did about his own.  "So now you're regretting that, and this is what comes of it?  Heartfelt, 'sharing-and-caring' Leon?"

               Another glare.  "No, it just seemed like the right response.  Besides, I never said I was volunteering to be 'someone.'"

               That part of Cloud that he tried so hard to ignore was back in full force, and it was pouting.  Would it really be so bad to vent once in a while to a human being rather than a brick wall?  Brick walls weren't exactly known for their emotional support; then again, neither was Leon, but at least the potential was there.  Cloud had to admit, as much as he hated to do so, that he somewhat enjoyed his stunted conversations with the older man.  Granted, they mostly consisted of grunts, monosyllabic words, and requests for some tool or another, but every once in a while one would make a remark to the other that actually told something about them.

               Cloud was never one to dwell on the question of sexual preference.  To him, love was love, and it was never going to happen to him anyway, so why bother choosing?  Tifa had tried since they were children to get the seemingly emotionless blond to fall in love with her, but to no avail.  According to some sources, she was now completely convinced that Cloud was gay.  Until now, he had been inclined to disagree, having not been attracted to anyone, ever.  There was something about Leon, though, that made him want to reconsider his views.  Certainly the man was attractive, with his stormy grey eyes, soft brown hair, rugged scar, and worn black leather, but it was his personality, and the way it was so compatible with Cloud's own, that made the blond think twice about spending the rest of his days alone.  He wouldn't go so far as to say he liked Leon in any romantic sense, but he could see the potential, and that annoying part of him wanted to take that potential and run with it.

               "Cloud?  … Cloud?"

               "Huh?"  The blond hadn't realized that he had spaced out for so long.  "What'd you say?"

               "I asked if we were going to continue to the Castle, or if we were just going to stay here."

               "Keep going.  I don't think we'll truly be safe from the girls until we're in the computer room with Tron keeping all the doors locked."

               Leon sighed.  "I know it doesn't make sense to you to want to lock my friends out, Tron, but just do it."  He rubbed a gloved finger along the scar across his face in frustration as he finally heard the lock mechanisms click into place on the lab doors.  Turning, he slid down against the desk and sat on the floor, Cloud doing the same on the opposite side of the room.  The two men stared blankly at one another.

               "What now?" came Cloud's voice, breaking the monotony of the sound of whirring machinery. 

               Leon raised an eyebrow at his companion.  "I thought we came here so that I could teach you to dance."

               "No.  Definitely not.  I said that because it was obviously a way out for me.  I would have taken any escape that came up.  You just happened to be convenient at the time."

               Soft brown hair shifted as Leon shook his head, standing.  "You are learning to dance, no question.  I've seen Aerith angry, and it is not pretty.  I would rather face your so-called 'darkness,' what's-his-face –"

               "Sephiroth," Cloud interjected moodily.

               "Whatever.  I would rather face him weaponless than have you unable to dance at that party, because then Aerith will be after me for not teaching you like I was supposed to."

               "So you're actually going to teach me?"

               A shrug.  "Like I said, I'm saving my skin.  Now, up."

               "You're not serious."  Leon merely grabbed Cloud's arm, dragging him up before letting go, nearly flinging the younger man across the room and into the control panel.  "Damn.  Fine."  His hand rubbed his arm where Leon had yanked on it.  "How do we start?"

               He sighed.  "Come here, and follow me.  We're not going to do anything complicated.  Just move your feet: up with the right, side with the left, feet together.  Now back with the left, side with the right, feet together.  And just keep doing that over and over again."

               Cloud raised an eyebrow as mako-blue eyes blinked at Leon.  "That's it?  Are you joking?"

               "No.  Why would I joke about this?"

               "A cat could do that!"

               Leon smirked.  "That's not the whole thing, that's just the basis for it.  But, if you insist – "  Without warning, he grabbed Cloud and assumed the male position.  He wouldn't deny that he was enjoying this a bit more than he thought he should, but as long as he concentrated on dancing, none of that mattered.  Leon generally enjoyed Cloud's company more than anyone else's, mostly because the man knew when to shut up, and he was the only one able to contest Leon's own strength; lately, though, he's found his thoughts dwelling on the younger man in a slightly more than platonic manner.  It shocked him at first.  Not that he found himself attracted to a stoic blond male, but the fact that he was attracted to anyone at all.  He hadn't felt more than friendship or familial love for anyone since before his homeworld was destroyed.  It was unlikely that he would ever act upon this attraction; that just wasn't his way.  He would content himself with this small infatuation until it went away and he felt nothing more than a sense of brotherly camaraderie for Cloud.

               Speaking of the blond man, Leon was close to reaching double digits in the number of times Cloud had stepped on his foot.  "You're not following my lead."

               "This is ridiculous!" Cloud exclaimed, though he made no move to step away from the poor attempt at a dance nor to step away from the brunet.  "Why are you leading, anyway?  Shouldn't I be doing that, since I'm the one who needs to learn it?"

               He had to admit, the blond had a powerful pout, but he would not be deterred.  "You can't ever hope to lead if you can't first follow."

               "What does that even mean?  And besides, I'm stronger, therefore I should definitely be leading."

               "No you're not; plus, I'm taller."

               "By an inch."

               "Doesn't change the fact."

               "Augh!"  Leon had stopped counting, but his throbbing toes told him this was somewhere in the mid-twenties.  "The steps you told me aren't working!"

               "That's because those were the male steps.  Now, doing female steps, everything's backwards for you.  You need to go back with the right and forward with the left.  Got it?"

               Their dance smoothed slightly, though there was still the occasional wince of pain from Leon.  They fell into a comfortable silence, the noise of their shuffling feet blending into the whirring machinery.  Curiosity must have won out in Cloud's mind, though, because he looked up from his feet at Leon.  "When did you learn to do this, anyway?"

               Leon snorted.  "We were supposed to know it in school on my homeworld.  Something about politics and parties or something.  I hate parties."

               A small smile appeared on Cloud's face.  "So you didn't dance much, then?"

               "I avoided it, even the lessons, until one party when I was dragged out onto the floor by someone who I didn't know back then."

               "The same person you mentioned earlier?"

               Leon nodded.  "She dragged me away from where I'd been leaning with my drink and threw us right into the middle of the dancers.  She was never one to go unnoticed."

               Cloud got a mischievous glint in his eyes.  "How many people did you knock over?"

               "None," was the terse response.

               "But how many did you knock into?"

               Leon couldn't meet Cloud's gaze as he mumbled, "Only a couple.  I caught on fast."

               Cloud laughed a little at Leon's disgruntled confession, a sound that anyone rarely heard, let alone the brunet.  It tugged at that attraction he had for the other man, stretching it, magnifying it.  He had the sudden urge to show off to the blond with their dance, which had been going smoothly for the past few minutes.  He released Cloud's waist, turning him with the other hand.  Unfortunately, the younger man was caught off guard, having returned his gaze to his feet and therefore having no idea what Leon was doing.  He stumbled, and Leon's fighter-sharp instincts acted faster than his mind as he caught him and pulled Cloud to his chest.  The two stared at each other, momentarily frozen in their embrace, before Leon jumped back, letting go of Cloud.  His attraction to the man had grown impossibly large, and threatened to mutate into something else altogether if he didn't get out of this situation immediately.  "I think you know enough now to please Aerith.  Tron, open the doors."

               As the doors hissed open, Leon stalked out, needing to vent his frustrations on some heartless.  Cloud blinked, confused by what had just happened, though not to say he had enjoyed in any less; he followed a split second behind the brunet, bent on the same purpose.

**End Notes: And that's it for Part 1.  Let me know what you thought!**


	2. Chapter 2

The suit was uncomfortable, he itched all over, and 'ridiculous' didn't even begin to cover how stupid he felt, but Aerith had insisted. Cloud had decided it was smarter to appease the normally peaceful brunette woman than to refuse the outfit she'd spent hours making. He'd thought at the time that at least he wouldn't be alone in his suffering, but apparently he was wrong. Cid had outright refused, no matter what kind of pleading eyes the girls had thrown him, so he stood around the newly refurbished and now heavily decorated town hall in his regular, everyday clothing. Merlin got to wear "ceremonial robes," which basically looked like a cleaner version of his normal robes, because Merlin was a wizard, and apparently pants are against the basic wizarding code. Sora, who had arrived earlier that evening with Riku and Kairi in tow, had been ecstatic about the prospect of formal wear. Riku was aggravatingly comfortable with wearing anything, as long as Sora was happy. Cloud had questionable thoughts regarding the relationship between those two, not that he would say anything about it.

The most infuriating of all, though, was Squall Leonhart, currently leaning against the wall with a drink in his hand, looking as though this whole party thing wasn't even happening around him. Not only did Leon not look the least bit uncomfortable, he looked _good_. It had taken every ounce of self-restraint left in Cloud not to rush over and jump the man, partly because it was a very un-Cloud-like thing to do, and partly because he wasn't sure how the older man would react. Beating heartless to a pulp after the abruptly terminated dance lesson had allowed him time to think, and he had come to accept that he actually possessed feelings for Leon, however shocking that may have been to his system. This, by no means, meant that he was ready to do anything about it, though.

Squall was bored. _Really_ bored. He was so bored, in fact, that he started to run a list in his head of the top 100 things he'd rather be doing. To emphasize how much he'd really rather not be here, many of the items in his list had the name 'Yuffie' attached to them in some way or another. Considering how easily the young ninja girl could annoy him, she was a good indicator for how much he didn't want to do something. The last item he'd come up with was that he would rather be learning how to make a daisy chain from Yuffie than be here at the party; this was number forty-two. However, as Leon moved closer to the top thing he'd rather be doing, he found that more and more the name 'Yuffie' was replaced by 'Cloud,' and the items listed gave him a sense of anticipation rather than dread.

* * *

Swearing softly to himself, Leon shook his head almost imperceptibly and took a swig of his drink. Aerith had insisted on pure fruit punch, since Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Yuffie were all minors, but Shiva, was Leon wishing there was something stronger in it. He needed to stop thinking of the blond man as anything more than a co-worker and battle companion, since obviously nothing would ever happen. To distract himself, he took to studying the other people in the room, noting the joy apparent on most of their faces.

Aerith looked positively ethereal as she fluttered back and forth between guests, decorations and food, trying to make sure everything for the celebration was absolutely perfect; it was a wonder that the floaty, gauzy layer of her pink dress never caught and tore on anything. Standing together slightly off to the side, Yuffie and Tifa could have been mistaken for sisters in similar black ensembles. Sora was dancing about wildly, dragging along an enthusiastic Kairi and a grudging, albeit slightly smirking, Riku. At one point, the gang of teens nearly took out Cid, who had to visibly restrain himself from swearing at them, since they had interrupted his deeply important debate with Merlin about the superiority of technology (particularly of the gummi variety) to magic. The king had found time in his schedule to attend the party, and was currently dancing with the ever-pleasant Queen Minnie. Nearby, Donald and Daisy were doing the same, as were Goofy and Clarabell. Wedge and Biggs, two of the town's shop owners, were semi-drunkenly relating to a small crowd of civilians a tale of the two of them piloting gummi ships in some big fight against a colossal spherical gummi ship that had obviously never happened; Leon wondered briefly if they would consider sharing the alcohol they had apparently smuggled in.

His attention was pulled back to the dance floor as Huey, Dewey, and Louie, who were providing the party with music, struck up a slower, familiar tune: a waltz. Leon watched as Aerith sought out Cloud and asked him to join her for a dance, to which the blond reluctantly agreed. He would carry it to his grave for the sake of his stoic reputation, but as he watch Cloud carefully place his hand on Aerith's waist, Leon suddenly found himself very, very jealous.

* * *

He kept stepping on her toes, and Cloud was sure at this point that Aerith would never believe that Leon had actually taught him to dance. He knew that she had mostly asked him to dance purely out of friendship, but the paranoid section of his brain said that she was testing him, making sure that he had in fact learned something vaguely resembling ballroom steps. The problem came when the part of him that was trying to avoid being skinned alive joined forces with the part of him that liked to stare at a certain brunet man's assets. He sighed, deep and heavy.

"Hang on, Aerith," he said, stopping their dance. "Let me prove I can dance with_out_ sending you to a healer." Cloud turned toward the brunet, who had yet to move from the wall, and extended his hand. "Leon, a little help here?"

Leon nearly choked on his punch, and Cloud felt a tiny bit of guilt for putting the man on the spot like that, but it needed to be done to save both their hides. "You want me to dance with you? Here?" the older man asked, a dark eyebrow raised in slight disbelief.

Cloud blinked twice rapidly, his eyes shifting to the side briefly before returning to their focus on the other man. "Yes. Yes, I do."

* * *

Before he knew what was happening, Leon heard himself responding with a half-hearted, "whatever," felt himself shrug, push away from the wall and set his mostly-empty cup down on the nearest flat surface. He stalked forward, not touching or even looking at Cloud until they were in the midst of the other dancers. "You're the girl, though," he stated, reaching confidently for Cloud's waist despite the turmoil his long-unused emotions were currently experiencing.

"I think that may be my problem," the blond grumbled, stumbling slightly as Leon began to step without warning. "You taught me to dance like a girl, and now I can't lead to save my life."

Leon could only grunt in response to Cloud's comment as he began to get lost in the dance. He wasn't thinking about the steps he took, nor the way his grip unconsciously tightened on his younger partner's hand, nor the way the other guests in the room slowed to watch them as their dance became more fluid, more natural. Leon's thoughts were on one thing and one thing alone as he looked at his dance partner: he was a lost cause, absolutely, hopelessly infatuated with Cloud Strife.

* * *

Cloud tried not to stare, he really did, but with the object of his affections at such close proximity, it was hard not to gaze into the commonly expressionless face. Though the stormy grey eyes had settled on him, Cloud could tell that Leon's thoughts were elsewhere. He was so busy trying to guess what the older man was thinking that he wasn't prepared for what happened next. There was a distinct feeling of déjà vu as Leon tried to lead Cloud through a turn and he stumbled, careening towards the floor of the room. Again he found himself saved from a face-plant by the brunet, but when the man didn't jump away immediately like last time, Cloud looked up from his view of Leon's chest. Clear, focused eyes searched the blond's face, but for what Cloud had no idea. The brunet seemed to find something, however, because before he knew it there were lips moving softly against his own.

* * *

As Leon pulled away from Cloud slowly, a soft smile on his face, he was struck with a very important thought: _Oh Shiva, I'm going to die._

* * *

Watching the brunet man turn and walk away, Cloud stood motionless for a moment before throwing back his shoulders and following him, oblivious to the whispers that filled in the gap he left behind.

* * *

"Leon," called a determined tenor voice toward the tall shadow silhouetted in the opening of the Bailey. Cloud moved to the brunet's side, the two men not looking at one another, but instead taking in the clear night sky over the Radiant Garden skyline. "Care to explain?"

"Not really."

"Are you sure? Because I'd really like one."

"Whatever."

Cloud was angry now. "No, not 'whatever.' You don't kiss people and then just brush it off. I want to know what the hell happened back there, and why you're mad at _me_ for it."

Leon sighed. They really needed to stop coming here; the place seemed to add fuel to their already short tempers, causing them to fight. "I'm not mad at you, I'm just taking it out on you. I'm mad at myself. That shouldn't have happened, and … I'm sorry…" He hated apologizing, it put a huge dent in his pride, but it needed to be done.

"But why did it happen?" Cloud glanced over at his older companion, his attention caught by the fingers tapping incessantly against the man's leg.

"I… I don't know." The fingers that had been tapping moved up to massage between his eyes, distorting the scar. "I could probably count the times I've let my emotions take over like that on one hand. I just… I really don't know."

The blond's head shot up. "Emotion?"

"You probably didn't know I possessed those, right?"

"No, it's not… I mean, I…" He sighed. "I didn't follow you out here because I hated it."

Slowly, Cloud reached for Leon's hand, both of them startled at the feel of contact uninhibited by leather gloves. Neither of them had come out and actually admitted specific feelings for the other, but they seemed to understand what they couldn't bring themselves to say. To anyone else, it may have seemed a strange way to begin a relationship, but it suited Cloud and Leon just fine.

* * *

In the town hall, Yuffie's hand was extended to the other female Radiant Garden residents. "Pay up, ladies. I so called that one!"

While Aerith smiled and handed over the bit of munny she'd bet, Tifa wasn't quite as forthcoming. "Not yet, hun. If they come out of the same door in the morning, my munny stays with me."

**

* * *

**

End Notes: I finished it! …Shush, all of you. It was going to happen eventually; you can all get off the floor from shock now. Thanks to all the people who reviewed the first part, especially _dareetel_, who pointed out that I had the ages of our two favorite men reversed. And

**Leon**** had a 'drunk.' Whoops. Will fix that later this week.**

**And that's the end of it, folks. I've got a companion Sora/Riku story to this that I'll probably start work on soon, but this story itself is done like dinner. Yesterday's dinner. Yesterday's dinner that's been left out to get really dry, and then the cat got up onto the counter and started eating it…. You get the point.**

**I totally give credit for the Top 100 list to my friends, who had us all making them back in high school when we were really bored in class. I still have mine somewhere.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading! Much love!**

**Aindel**


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